Getting to Know Ancient Egyptian Art - Continued

Here, we carry-over an ongoing topic on "Getting to Know Ancient Egyptian Art". This section will deal with certain codes which artists appear to have adhered to. These are recurring themes that appear to have then been timeless, in that they spanned several Dynasties despite new artistic styles sanctioned by succeeding rulers.


Kemetian art, while it did undergo changes throughout the Dynastic era, featured codes that crosscut Dynasties, to which artists adhered. A good example of this, is the famous left leg "a-step-forward" body posture, accompanied by fist-like hand gestures to the body side(s). This body posture can be seen in the aforementioned Menkaure statue, and below, we have some more examples:

On the left, is a wooden sculpture of Cancellor Nakhti of the 12th Dynasty, under Sesostri I's reign (ca. 1943-1898 BC).Assiut, Egypt, tomb n7. On the right, is the sculpture of Pharaoh figure belonging to the time  of Senwosret I (ca. 1961-1917 BC); one viewpoint suggests that the figure is personifying some divine purpose, presumably because its kilt "lacks the typical front lappet of the royal garment" and that the figure is holding a crooked staff in the left hand.

Below, several sculptures of Kushitic leaders maintain a similar body posture:

Kushitic royalty.

Another interesting artistic convention that crosscuts various Dynasties, is the relative positions of the male and female figures, particularly of royalty and deity, as exemplified in this determinative for "people" in hieroglyphics:
The male figure usually precedes that of the female.

We see this theme in many wall-murals, as seen as follows:

On the left, is presumably a rendition of Sennefer and his wife, Meryt (aka Senet-nay/Senet-nefert/Senet...). Reportedly amongst his titles, Sennefer was like a mayor, "overseer of the Gardens of Amun","Overseer of the Cattle of Amun", "Overseer of the Granaries of Amun", and "Overseer of the Fields of Amun", under Amenhotep II of the 18th Dynasty (ca. 1427-1401 BC). His wife, Meryt (aka Senet-nay/Senet-nefert/Senet...), was reportedly a "musician of Amun" and "royal nurse". On the right, is a wall-mural of Inherkhau and his wife, found in Inherkhau's tomb TT359, Dayr al-Madina—Luxor, Egypt. The scene reportedly features Inherkhau's two sons offering him a "ushabtis box and libation vase" respectively, while he is surrounded by his grand kids, sporting the youth side-locks. He served as "Foreman of the Lord of the Two Lands in the Place of Truth" during the 19th Dynasty.

On the left, is a wall-mural found in Neferrenpet's tomb ("Kenro"), TT178, Thebes, Egypt; the scene reportedly features Neferrenpet himself and his wife drinking from a pool .On the right, is another wall-mural, located in Ankerkhe's tomb; it features a deceased male figure with his wife, enjoying music from a "blind harpist". In all the images, the male personalities are seated ahead of their female companions.

On the left, is a wall-mural of Sennefer of the 18th Dynasty, under Amenhotep II. Notice in several instances, Sennefer assumes a leading position, ahead of his wife, Meryt (aka Senet-nay/Senet-nefert/Senet...). Sennefer was the equivalent of a mayor. On the right, is a  funerary stela piece of an unspecified date, featuring a priest named "Indi", accompanied by his wife, reportedly "priestess of Hathor, Mutmuti of Thinis". The priestess has that idealistic yellowish skin coloration, while the male has the conventional dark brown, and again, the male leads the female companion.

On the left, is a wall-mural showing official Ramose and his wife, of an unspecified date. On the right, is a wall-mural featuring Paatenemheb and his wife, Tipuy, found in Paatenemheb's tomb, which has somehow been stored at a museum located in Leiden, Netherlands. He was reportedly a royal "butler" sometime during the 18th Dynasty, either under Tutankhamun's reign or Horemheb's.

On the left, is a wall rendering of Khay, described as troop "commander" of "traders of treasury of the pharaoh", under Rameses II's reign. He is accompanied by his wife, Tawerethetepti.  On the right, is a rendering of the underworld, featuring Ausar (Osiris). Ausar of the Nederworld/underworld accompanied by Auset and Nebt Het; also look at details of the top register of the mural, to notice what appears to be Heru followed by the king (Pharaoh), and accompanying figures [the green looking personalities are likely associated with deity, or else, are symbolic of eternity of some sort] which include males and females. Again, the order seems to be a pattern of male deity figures preceding the female counterparts.

The positioning of males first and then females appears to be just a convention; in actuality though, these renderings are supposed to generally imply the side-by-side accompaniment of the couples at hand, rather than one partner standing or sitting ahead of the other. On that note, we now visit yet another artwork standard, specifically in regards to sculptures of royalty or elite couples. It is generally a rule that the couple is carved out from a single rock piece, or at least joined together to one large slab, as we shall see below:

On the left, is reportedly the limestone sculpture of Katep and his wife, Hetepheres, ca. 2300 BC. On the right, is the sculpture of Meryneith, scribe of the Aten temple and "first prophet of the Neith temple", alongside his wife, Anuia; the sculpture naturally dates to Akenaten's era, Amarna—18th Dynasty.

On the left, is namely Maya, "overseer of the treasury", alongside his wife, simply referred to as Meryt. Dates to ca. 18th Dynasty, either during Tutankhamun's reign or that of Horemheb. The image on the right, reportedly features Ptahmai and his family, with his wife and "Singer of Amun"—reportedly Hatshepsut—on his left, and his daughter—Inuihaj—on his right. His grandson "Ramose" accompanies him, on his left hand side, while his other daughter, named Henut Demui, is standing on his right hand side. Ptahmai is said to have likely been a military veteran (determined from the double necklace around his neck) who assumed the title of "Wab Priest of Amun", during Rameses II's reign.

On the left, is a sculpture of an unspecified date of an unspecified official or couple. On the right, naturally, is the well-known sculpture of Akhenaten and his wife, Nefertiti.

Remnants of Sennefer's head and portions of his wife, Meryt (aka Senet-nay/Senet-nefert/Senet...), ca. 1427-1401 BC, during Amenhotep II's reign

Peculiar representation of Ra-Hotep on the left, and his wife, Nofret, on the right.

In each case, the male figure is accompanied by his female companion on a single slab. This appears to have been the case, regardless of what Dynasty is at hand. In this regard, only the Ra-Hotep/Nofret sculpture are an interesting oddity, which visibly violates the trend just described. Not only is Ra-Hotep's person not shaven clean, as is usually the case, but also more importantly, the couple are placed on two separate slabs, almost as if they were not a close couple, or yet perhaps an estranged couple, torn apart from another. It is safe though to assume that this was likely not the intention of the artist, since otherwise, only the more significant figure, likely Ra-Hotep, would have been celebrated, rather than the couple. As if that peculiarity was not enough, unlike the other examples shown here, the individual separate slabs of Ra-Hotep and Nofret have inscriptions on their top portions on either side of the figures' heads, respectively. The hand gestures of Ra-Hotep and Nofret respectively deviate from the hands-on-thighs norm, which appears to be so in most cases unless the figure is specifically holding something in one hand. The mustache on Ra-Hoteps noticeably also departs from the generally shaven faces of royal male figures, that is, when said figures are not given a pseudo "divine" goatee. Ra-Hotep interestingly, contra to neck-gear type seen on Nofret, has a simple necklace or string-like ornamentation around his neck; in most cases, however, the neck ornamentation is in the form of an elaborate, if not fairly decorative, collar-like gear. Naturally, this case of an aberration has stirred suspicion in academia about the authenticity of the sculptures.

In summation, Kemetian art cannot summarily be dismissed as primarily idealistic, and therefore, of little bio-anthropological value, where human and other organic subjects go; rather, as demonstrated here, there was a general trend of capturing empirical observations in art. Nor was Dynastic Egyptian art chronically conservative and rigid in form. It was visibly dynamic, while at the same time, featuring certain traditions or codes in specialized areas that withstood the test of time for duration of the Dynastic era, especially concerning commemorative material celebrating figures of the ruling class.

*This post may be subject to modification or updates at any time.
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 *References:

—The majority of the material comes from personal notes from March, June & October 2005, with the rest from 2009 and 2010.

—Appreciations to the likes of British Museum, Louvre Museum and Metropolitan Museum for making images of relics available.